1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to methods for establishing network connections for conferencing over computer networks, and more particularly, a method for establishing conferences and linking conference participants to the conferences over the internet.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In hosting a conference over a computer network such as the internet, the conference host advertises and promotes the conference as to the subject matter of the conference and the time and location of the conference. Parties interested in participating in the conference join the conference via their network connections at the designated time.
The traditional paradigm of an on-line conference, referring to FIG. 1, consists of a host server 10 connecting a number of conference participants or clients 12a-12c through their respective individual channels 14a-14c. This is a client/server paradigm where a host server connects a number of clients. Under this paradigm, a great deal of computing resources are consumed by the host server.
The traditional paradigm is no longer adequate in meeting the dynamic and flexible environment demanded by the activity of the network users of today and of the future. Ideally, given the level of activity on the internet, a different paradigm, referring to FIG. 2, is desirable. In this peer-to-peer paradigm, there is no host server, and a number of clients 18a-18e are connected via a number of channels 20a-20e in a variety of manners. The advantage with this paradigm is that there is not a central host server to connect the clients. As long as the clients utilize application programs allowing communication across networks between the clients, this network paradigm is feasible and desirable.
However, there are several problems in establishing network connections over an interconnected network in accordance with the peer-to-peer paradigm. These problems prove to be cumbersome and sometimes are administratively impossible for the clients (or conference participants) to overcome. The problem lies in finding the internet protocol ("IP") address of the client hosting the conference (conference chairperson) or the IP address of any one of the clients in the conference (conference participants).
An IP address uniquely identifies a user's internet presence and is composed of four bytes of information representing a domain name and an identification number in that domain. By knowing the IP address of a user, an internet connection can be established with that user.
However, the IP address of a particular user is not always the same. If a user dials into an internet service provider ("ISP") in establishing an internet connection, the users may be assigned a different IP address every time due to the fact that the ISP has a limited number of connections to the internet and IP addresses must be dynamically allocated as requested. For users having direct connections to the internet through their company or organization, their IP addresses may be remapped, may change over time, or may be machine dependent. Furthermore, many companies and organizations have a computer network security barrier commonly referred to as a "firewall" to stop unauthorized intrusion into their computer networks, and the firewall may translate an IP address for a particular computer or user such that the computer or user is identified by a different address every time.
The problems with IP addresses minimize conferences from being established in accordance with the peer-to-peer paradigm on the internet, minimizing activities such as document conferencing, video conferencing, etc.